Wisconsin judge pleads not guilty to helping a man evade federal immigration agents

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By TODD RICHMOND
Updated 12:23 PM CDT, May 15, 2025

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Wisconsin judge pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges accusing her of helping a man who is illegally in the country evade U.S. immigration authorities seeking to arrest him in her courthouse.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan entered the plea during a brief arraignment in federal court. Magistrate Judge Stephen Dries scheduled a trial to begin July 21. Dugan’s lead attorney, Steven Biskupic, told the judge that he expects the trial to last a week.

Dugan, her lawyers and prosecutors left the hearing without speaking to reporters.

The accusations against Dugan
She is charged with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. Prosecutors say she escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer out of her courtroom through a back door on April 18 after learning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the courthouse seeking to arrest him for being in the country illegally. She could face up to six years in prison if convicted on both counts.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/dugan-wisconsin-judge-arrested-trump-immigration-plea-ba8ef8e5cc1d0f66d4319e4f36f08766

[moniss]

1. Now comes the fun of

having the Feds screw around about telling the truth about which agents were actually present and then playing games about not making them available for depositions. They will use National Security as some sort of bogus reason etc. Since the man was apprehended and "disappeared" more or less they will also not make him available.

[in2herbs]

2. But if he's not available to testify how can Dugan be prosecuted? nt

[moniss]

3. Technically he is not the accuser but his testimony about

what he actually was told is obviously pivotal. His lawyer quit his case immediately which raises questions of whether there was pressure to do so. Whatever the lawyer says she was told will be relevant of course but she cannot on her own say what she discussed with her client unless there were other parties to the conversation. So there are many avenues here for the Feds to play games and drag a thing on and on.